Shakespeare's word inventions

The Words episode of Radiolab (iTunes link) features an interesting segment on how Shakespeare behaved like a language chemist, combining words like elements. The relevant story starts at 22:00 in of the episode.

According to James Shapiro, a Shakespeare scholar at Columbia, the un- prefix is something Shakespeare created (at least he was the first to use it in print or on stage). That means he invented the words unaware, uncomfortable, undress, uneducated, unwillingness, unsolicited, and unreal. Also, words like madcap and eyeball. That’s right, the word eyeball didn’t actually exist until Shakespeare came up with it.

Plenty of Shakespeare phrases have stuck with us too. Some examples mentioned by Shapiro:

Truth will out.
What’s done is done.
Dead as a doornail.
Every dog will have its day.
Fool’s paradise.
The game is afoot.
It’s Greek to me.
Kill with kindness.
Love is blind.
All’s well that end’s well.

Nick

He also took familiar words and used them in ways that force you to stop and think about what he meant. (e.g. “Nay, godded me, indeed.”)

We were just talking about this yesterday.

Seems like everyone has started reducing their vocabulary and messages into something that will fit in 140 characters.

Adam

on 07 Sep 10

It’s important to be careful about these. There are many lists of “words Shakespeare invented,” but what they actually boil down to is, “words where Shakespeare is the oldest surviving written source.” For literature scholars, this is valuable, but in the evolution of the English language it is unlikely these are really inventions.

It is wrong to have the picture of the Bard sitting at a desk and pondering what new words he should make up today. More likely, he had in common with modern novelists the desire to use fresh and gritty new words he heard from his life outside of the British upper class.

In this light, the moral isn’t “sit around and think of something really smart and new” but instead: “find inspiration in the world around you and take advantage of opportunities others are missing.”

Joe

on 07 Sep 10

Great post. The entire episode is well worth the time, very interesting and well put-together.

I recently read book The Professor and the Madman (http://amzn.to/dzRXIB) about the making of the first Oxford English Dictionary. The book mentions the fact that Shakespeare didn’t have a dictionary (See Adam’s point about being the oldest surviving written source) during his time and, in fact, most people did not have a clear sense of meaning of even some of the simplest words in the English vocabulary.

It makes one wonder, did this lack of formal rules of what words even existed free Shakespeare up to create some of the greatest works of all time and, in turn, does the uber-formal rules of proper grammar hurt the creativity of the modern writer?

My guess is the gains of clear communication trump the fact you have to follow so many rules, but it’s an interesting idea to ponder.

If you cannot understand my argument, and declare “It’s Greek to me,” you are quoting Shakespeare; if you claim to be more sinned against than sinning, you are quoting Shakespeare; if you recall your salad days, you are quoting Shakespeare; if you act more in sorrow than in anger, if your wish is father to the thought, if your lost property has vanished into thin air, you are quoting Shakespeare; if you have ever refused to budge an inch or suffered from green-eyed jealousy, if you have played fast and loose, if you have been tongue-tied, a tower of strength, hoodwinked or in a pickle, if you have knitted your brows, made a virtue of necessity, insisted on fair play, slept not one wink, stood on ceremony, danced attendance (on your lord and master), laughed yourself into stitches, had short shrift, cold comfort or too much of a good thing, if you have seen better days or lived in a fool’s paradise – why, be that as it may, the more fool you, for it is a foregone conclusion that you are (as good luck would have it) quoting Shakespeare; if you think it is early days and clear out bag and baggage, if you think it is high time and that that is the long and short of it, if you believe that the game is up and that truth will out even if it involves your own flesh and blood, if you lie low till the crack of doom because you suspect foul play, if you have your teeth set on edge (at one fell swoop) without rhyme or reason, then – to give the devil his due – if the truth were known (for surely you have a tongue in your head) you are quoting Shakespeare; even if you bid me good riddance and send me packing, if you wish I were dead as a door-nail, if you think I am an eyesore, a laughing stock, the devil incarnate, a stony-hearted villain, bloody-minded or a blinking idiot, then – by Jove! O Lord! Tut, tut! for goodness’ sake! what the dickens! but me no buts – it is all one to me, for you are quoting Shakespeare.

I think it’s a testament to the genius of Shakespeare’s creativity that his use of the English language is still the origin of many words and phrases used today in modern communication. I am a christian music fan and even notice his influence within the lyrics of many of my favorite artists.